A standard flat or conveyor belt is made of at least one piece of belting whose ends are attached together by an assembly comprising at least one clip on each belt end and a rod interconnecting the clips like a hinge. Each such clip or connector typically is made of metal and has a pair of legs adapted to embrace the respective belt end and a bight portion interconnecting the outer ends of the legs. Each leg in turn is formed with at least two throughgoing holes that align with the holes of the leg on the opposite face of the belt, and staples are driven through the registering holes from one side of the belt and are crimped over on the other side. Normally a plurality of the clips are secured to each end of the belt, forming a succession of knuckles that are interleaved and then connected together by the rod to form a very strong but bendable joint.
As described in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,590 and my European patent 477,469 (based on a French priority of 1 Apr. 1992) the clips are stamped out of sheet metal so that all the upper legs extend unitarily from an upper mounting plate and all the lower legs extend unitarily from a lower mounting plate. The metal of the blank from which the clips are formed is bent over between the actual legs and bight of the clips so it is double-thick in this region and, therefore, more resistant to wear.
Since the connecting pin extending through the bights and the clips themselves are made of corrosion-resistant steel, considerable friction occurs between the connecting pin and the bights since corrosion-resistant steel has a relatively high coefficient of friction. The friction therefore leads to very severe wear more particularly of the bights, so that in the end the bights and finally the complete belt joint may be damaged. Damaged belt jointing leads to expensive repairs and disturbances in operation which must be avoided if at all possible.